


Let's Play Pretend

by creeper_gavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Angst, Angst and Feels, Blood, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fake AH Crew, Fluff, Gangs, Hurt/Comfort, Jack-Centric, Multi, Murder, No Smut, Polyamory, Undercover Jack, Undercover Missions, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:23:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7303084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creeper_gavin/pseuds/creeper_gavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'The Fake AH Crew is hated by many in Los Santos but by the same notion they’re feared. To hurt a member of the crew is a risky move with Geoff around. It doesn’t seem to him that the people responsible for killing the crew's hostage and hurting a member of their team are entirely aware of what they’ve done.</p><p>No one fucks with the Fake AH Crew. That’s unwritten law in this city.</p><p>Geoff keeps walking, not noticing when Ryan stops by the door with a confused look on his face.</p><p>“Geoff?” Ryan asks slowly, bringing his boss back down to earth. His head snaps up with a small grunt. “Look at this.”</p><p>“What is it?” Geoff asks as he walks back to the door. Ryan’s staring at the metal inside quite intently and Geoff doesn’t understand why until he rounds the corner.</p><p>Sprayed onto the door is a neon yellow tag. A messily painted letter M that’s running down the door. Beneath the crude penmanship is a much neater sprayed set of initials.</p><p>S.H'</p><p>When a new rival gang appears in town they mess with the wrong crew and Jack goes undercover to teach them a lesson. Prompt by miss-ingno on Tumblr!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Play Pretend

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Jack going undercover - at a rival gang, at the Corpirate's office, at the police, whatever you'd like. - By miss-ingno
> 
> This took a ridiculously long time to write. I loved the idea of this prompt as soon as I got it but I knew I had to come up with a good build up for it to be plausible. I hope you guys enjoy!

“I feel like you’re having too much fun scaring the shit out of the tellers instead of actually killing them, Ray.” Michael shouts into his radio, as yet another bullet flies past his ear and hits the door handle beside a terrified bank employee’s fingertips. The woman screams loudly and dives to the floor of her booth, broken glass cracking beneath her.

“Takes a better aim to tease them than to murder.” Ray snarks in return and Michael rolls his eyes.

“Yes but we don’t want them teased. We want them dead.”

“You’re taking the fun out of this. Since when did you turn into a mini Geoff?”

“Since you all started not bothering to actually complete a heist.” Michael mutters but he can’t grumble for too long. Someone runs past him and Michael wastes no time before he throws a grenade towards the door they’re heading to, watching it blow up in their face.

The man stumbles backwards from the force and before he can get up Jeremy launches himself from the shadows, pushing the man back down onto the ground. He straddles his chest and quickly slits his throat before disappearing again.

Michael has no idea where he’s gone, then again he never does. Jeremy works silently but brutally. His attacks are purposeful and precise. Anyone who dies by his hand is meant to do so, because Jeremy doesn’t do collateral damage.

With the door to the inner workings of the bank now obliterated Michael moves forwards. This is clearly one of their less secretive heists, seeing as he’s thrown at least ten grenades since arriving at the bank they’re robbing. There are holes all over the building, bodies – or what’s left of them – littering the floor, and maniacal laughter from within that’s only echoed in his ear piece.

“Lad’s day out is top, boys!” Gavin yells over the sound of ammunition firing from his weapon.

Gavin’s having more fun on this heist than he has in a month or longer. Ignoring his usual responsibilities as the Fake AH Crew’s resident hacker, he’s occupying himself with the job of putting bullets in brains till he gets to his post. With a golden gun grasped tight in his grip Gavin makes sure every one of his shots hits their target. The gun was a present from Geoff, and Gavin thinks of every enemy he slaughters with the weapon as a present in return.

It takes no more than two shots per victim till they're crumpled on the ground, blood pooling from their skulls.

Michael dashes through the hole he’s created to join his boyfriend deeper inside. Glass crunches beneath his feet as he runs, following bloody footsteps until he finds Gavin. There’s a smirk on the Brit’s face that would terrify Michael if he didn’t know him better. It’s dark and villainous but seeping joy and adrenaline from within.

Gunfire that’s not their own enters the room and Gavin throws Michael the AK-47 that’s hanging around his shoulders. It’s caught in deft fingers before being flipped into the correct position and the bullets begin to rain.

“I’ve got your back!” Michael calls out as the two stand opposite each other with Gavin towards the vault and Michael facing the hole that used to be a door. No one gets more than two steps into the room before they’re mowed down by Michael’s spray of bullets.

Anyone who sneaks around the back is caught instantly by Gavin who lets them live long enough to realise their mistake. But they’ll never escape Gavin’s aim.

“Can you create a diversion so I can get to the vault?” Gavin bellows over his shoulder and Michael just grins. 

His fingers grasp the grenade attached to his belt and he pulls the pin out of one.

“Leave it to me, boi.” He replies before throwing the live explosive towards the hole he’s already made.

Gavin runs from their formation just as the bomb goes off. He hears Michael make a sound of impressed surprise and the building shakes with shock. He ignores anyone around him, his focus only breaking for a split second when he swears he sees Jeremy sneaking about in the shadows.

The scream of a victim cut short by cold blades against their neck is all that Gavin needs to know that the lad is close by. It’s up to Jeremy to take the cash once Gavin gets the vault open so as long as the other is around, Gavin’s confident this heist will be a success.

He shoulders open another door, wood splintering noisily under his weight and finally enters the main vault of the bank as another shadow darts in the edge of his vision. Gavin pays it no attention, closing the door behind him as firmly as he can when it’s half hanging off its hinges. He kneels down by the large metal door to the safe, not even glancing around the room to investigate what he thinks he saw. Concentration is key but Gavin’s brain only focuses on one thing at once.

The door to the safe spans the entire height of the room and has a large wheel-like handle in its centre. Off to the side is a small number pad which Gavin easily assumes is how the door is unlocked.

Gavin pockets his gun, takes out an electronic device and places it on the door carefully before grabbing his phone. His fingers are quick and experienced as he types in what would look like a random pattern to anyone who wasn’t aware of Gavin’s intelligence on the matter.

It takes a few minutes for Gavin to find the right codes to the door of the safe. Endless possibilities carefully sequenced until only the correct remain. The device attached to the thick metal bleeps and the code flashes on his phone screen.

3982776391

“Jeremy,” Gavin finally says as he gets to his feet, “You’re up.”

“On my way.” Jeremy responds as Gavin punches in the numbers to open the vault. The door clunks satisfyingly as it releases and Gavin takes hold of the large handle in both hands, twisting it to the left.

It’s stiff to begin with but the pressure decreases slightly before spinning out of Gavin’s grip, the door slowly swinging open.

He doesn’t see what he wants.

Inside should lie a mountain of gold but the vault is completely bare. 

Gavin frowns in confusion, stepping back from the metal door.

For the first time since entering the room Gavin actually looks around; something he should have done when he first entered.

There are dead bodies on the floor, blood pooling around them and some destroyed beyond recognition. 

Someone has already been inside and how the fuck Gavin didn’t notice this carnage is beyond him.

He looks up with wide eyed panic. The door was shut when he came in so, clearly, none of his boys had been in here.

It’s after a moment that’s far too long that he notices the oddest thing in the room. There’s a giant fucking hole in the wall, rather similar to Michael’s own works of art in the rest of the building.

“Michael…” Gavin asks quietly into his radio, “You didn’t happen to come by the vault already did you?”

“No.” Michael responds in confusion. “Why?”

“Oh shit…” He mutters, not actually answering the Jersey lad’s question. “We might have a problem.” Gavin sighs as he stares at the hole in the wall. Over all of Michael’s own explosions he’s not exactly surprised they didn’t hear whoever this was breaking in.

“What the fuck’s happened?” Michael yells into Gavin’s ear piece and it makes him squirm a little at the sudden increase in volume. 

“I don’t know but it can’t be good.” Gavin tells him before ignoring the rest of Michael’s shouting and running from the room. He takes off out of the hole in the wall and sprints through the maze of the bank, ignoring the calls from Jeremy in his ear signifying he must have reached the empty vault.

Gavin’s searching everywhere he can but there’s so many holes that it’s impossible to keep track of who’s made which ones.

As he’s running down a particularly empty corridor he’s suddenly grabbed by unknown hands. He makes a small yelp but almost instantly there’s a hand covering his mouth, stopping him from contacting his crew.

Gavin lashes out, kicking backwards at his attacker’s shins where he manages to get in a couple of good strikes before he realises that more people have come out of the shadows. His eyes widen a little and his muffled shouts become more panicked but he’s completely outnumbered.

Reaching for his gun is a bad idea because it’s noticed almost instantly and a stranger snatches it straight from his back pocket. However it’s not aimed at his own head which confuses Gavin a little. He expected this to be an attempt on his life, not a robbery of his possessions.

When he twists a little to the side to try and see the people restraining him he can see that everybody, except the man that’s actually holding him, is carrying a black bag. It’s not exactly overly presumptuous to guess that those bags are filled with the gold that used to belong in the vault.

“Let him go.” A Jersey accent states simply. Gavin smiles underneath the hand that’s covering his mouth because of course Michael would come to his rescue.

These idiots may have gotten in without being stopped – and nobody in the crew can even fathom how they got past Ray’s sniping – however they’re hardly going to get away from them now.

Michael’s tossing a grenade carelessly in his hands but he knows he’s not going to throw it. Throwing it would more than likely kill not only this group but probably also Gavin. As much as Michael can find Gavin more than a little annoying he’s pretty sure that killing a boyfriend classifies as grounds for a break up.

Also, he can’t deny he loves Gavin too.

Not one of the people in the group moves so Michael repeats himself.

“I said, let him go.” He says, pulling the pin from the grenade with a smirk. Instantly Gavin is dropped to the floor. The group scatter in different directions and Michael throws the bomb at one of them. It goes off on impact, a loud explosion in a distant room that only serves to make Michael laugh and Gavin chuckle as he gets up from the ground.

“Ray, if you see anyone leaving the bank with black bags. Shoot them down.” Michael tells their sniper in the treeline before turning back to Gavin.

“Black bags are a bit fucking vague, Michael.” Ray grumbles into his communicator.

“One of them has got my gun!” Gavin points out and he swears he can hear the sniper roll his eyes.

“Oh brilliant. I’m looking for men with bags and a tiny fucking gun. Fuck you all.”

Michael smiles a little as he hears Ray complaining. He may moan and groan but no one can deny that Ray doesn't love a challenge. Not even Ray himself. If he managed to get even one of them then they wouldn’t hear the end of it for weeks.

“Ready for a chase?” Michael asks when Ray sounds off, and Gavin nods.

“One of them bastards got my gun. I’m going after them.” Gavin declares, immediately sprinting off in the direction that a bulk of the group was last seen. That gun was Gavin’s favourite present and the fact that it came from Geoff made it even more special.

No criminal with a lack of manners was going to take it from him.

Except the bank is so large that Gavin feels like he’s been running for days before he sees anybody. It’s impossible that the entire group already managed to get away but with the chaos that this heist has become Gavin can’t help but feel like they’re a little bit screwed.

He stops to catch his breath after a moment when Jeremy emerges from the shadows.

“Gavin, what the hell is happening?” He asks with the most confused look plastered on his face but Gavin doesn’t even know where to begin.

It was going so well until those idiots showed up and stole their loot. The Fake AH Crew was not some pawn they could use to do the dirty work. They didn’t do their job just so someone else could reap the rewards.

“I got to the vault.” Gavin explains, “But it was empty. There was a hole in the wall. Someone had already robbed it while we were creating a distraction out at the front, I assume. So I ran after them. They attacked me. Stole my gun, then I tried to chase them down but somehow I lost them.” He rambles but it doesn’t wipe the look of confusion off Jeremy’s face.

“Geoff’s gonna kill you.” He states bluntly.

“I know.”

Gavin groans and runs his hands through his hair for a moment. A string of curse words are running through his mind and he can’t think straight with Jeremy staring at him.

“Guys,” Ray crackles over the communicators, “I’ve just shot a man. And Gavin, you might just be pleased.”

“Why?” Gavin asks, glancing up for a moment.

“He’s got your gun.”

Gavin, for what feels like the tenth time that day, takes off running. He doesn’t stop when Michael joins him and he’s not even checked to see if Jeremy is keeping up. Something in this damn heist has to go right!

The holes in the walls prove surprisingly good at being short cuts because there’s almost a clear path out to the front of the building. Gavin ducks through every crevice he can, wood and glass crunching underfoot and chaos reigning down behind him.

He can hear sirens in the distance, there’s not much time left before the LSPD show up and they have to make themselves scarce; even with the B-team providing distractions and hold ups.

Outside, the sunlight is blinding and Gavin throws an arm up to his eyes to shield them as he emerges from the front of the bank. The area is desolate with the general public having fled in fear and any security lying dead on the ground.

It would seem like a peaceful end to a horrific job if it wasn’t for the man yelling in the middle road. Gavin slows down his run as he approaches, Michael and Jeremy jogging up to his side. The glint of his gold gun in the dying man’s front pocket catches Gavin’s eye but, strangely, he doesn’t go to retrieve it immediately.

There’s already a large puddle of blood beside the man as he clutches at his thigh, but to no avail. The trio stare down at the stranger with equally pissed off expressions.

“That’s a pretty dangerous artery you hit.” Michael mumbles to Ray through his communicator and the man, who proves to be still functioning, wails in terror.

“Yeah well. I didn’t want him getting up and running away. But I figure you’ve only got a minute of lucid interrogation. So hurry the fuck up and get your answers.” Ray says, not moving from his position in the tree.

“You wanna do the honours?” Michael asks Gavin courteously who shakes his head.

“No, no. After you.” Gavin responds in a mockingly gentleman-like tone.

“Why thank you so very much good sir.” He replies in the same voice before crouching down by the head of their victim.

Michael’s tone changes in a heartbeat.

“Who the fuck do you work for, you piece of shit!” Michael yells loudly, spit flying. It’s fun to watch the man whimper as he lies on the ground, blood leaving his body at a terrifyingly quick rate and the colour leaving his face just the same.

“Give me one good reason why I should tell you?” The man points out though the confidence that should have been in his voice is all but gone.

“Because we can save your life if you do.” Gavin declares as he circles round the man to stand by his side. “Gives us the information and we’ll return the favour.”

The Brit’s voice is smooth and compelling. It’s so easy to be lulled into a false sense of security with Gavin. His gentle smile and words that make him so easy to trust as he clasps his hands together and glances to the wound. “It’s not such a bad injury as long as you get it treated.” He says.

It doesn’t take the man on the ground more than a second to fall into the trap.

“I work for Sebastian Hordan.” He cries instantly. “A crew called the Maniacs. Please don’t let me die!” The man finishes and Michael wrinkles his face in disgust.

“What a fucking disgraceful cock-faced bitch.” Michael spits. “Couldn’t even die with honour.”

The man’s eyes widen at the Jersey lads words.

“You said you’d save me…” He whispers, voice quiet and dying. The stranger barely has the energy to lift his head as the blood leaves his body, snaking out onto the street beneath him.

Gavin just shakes his head, his eyes connecting once more with the gold weapon in the enemy’s pocket. He gives in to the temptation this time, swiping it away into the hands of the man it first belonged.

Slowly, mockingly, Gavin loads the gun. He takes his time. After all, this man doesn’t have the ability to escape and from the severity and placement of Ray’s shot in his thigh he figures he has a minute left on his life timer.

“What are you doing…?” The man whines in terror, “Don’t go back on a promise!” He yelps, “Don’t betray me. You said you’d help!”

“We are helping.” Gavin says he carefully aims the gun towards the man’s head. His voice is still gentle and kind. The stranger barely knows what to expect before Gavin’s soft smile falls. “We’re helping rid the world of one more dirty fucking traitor.” He growls.

Gavin lets his words sink in, lets the horror take over this man’s face before he pulls the trigger.

It’s messy at such close range and all three of the man at the scene are immediately sprayed with blood and brain matter.

 

* * *

 

Sebastian Hordan became a target for the crew within moments of the lad’s returning home. As predicted Geoff is furious about the state of the heist and immediately Sebastian’s name is placed on their hitlist.

They steam about the situation for a few days, complaining to each other about what they would have done with the take from the job. Geoff grumbles about the scolding he got from his bosses.

The name remains on the list but it’s not long before it’s pushed down the pile of importance.

Gavin takes out an expensive helicopter and destroys it by flying it into a skyscraper. Michael accidentally blows up the basement of the penthouse and Ryan _'accidentally'_ murders a guy on their street.

In a way, having gold stolen from under their noses becomes the least of their problems that week, especially with Jack being away on business with Joel.

By Friday it’s almost guaranteed that nobody in the crew has paid it much more thought than a small whine every now and again. After all, there’s plenty more jobs in the city.

Ryan and Jack are normally paired for interrogation. The attack dog and a handler to stop him from going too far off the walls; to keep him under control when times get hard.

Except with Jack still away it’s up to Geoff to be the leash. It’s not a job entrusted to any of the lads apart from Gavin. Michael just spurs Ryan on further instead of reigning him in, Ray is the opposite. He’s far too laid back when it comes to actually caring about just how much their hostage is being thrown about. And as for Jeremy; well, Geoff hasn’t seen enough about that particular lad to make an informed decision.

“It won’t take long.” Geoff explains as he kisses the top of Michael’s head. The Jersey lad had woken late this morning, finding his way into the arms of a doting leader who was now cursing the fact that he had to do his job instead of taking advantage of the affectionate mood the man was in.

“Better not…” Michael mumbles, face pushing into Geoff’s shirt sleepily as he stifles a yawn. “Even better, send Gavin.” He suggests.

“You know I can’t do that.” The crew leader points out gently. “He’s in the office all morning and there’s not a chance in hell I’m sending Ray out with Ryan again.” He says and it earns him a rough chuckle from Michael.

“True.” He smiles, pulling back and kissing Geoff’s lips softly. Still sleepy and gentle he almost misses his mark but Geoff carefully lifts a hand to guide his face.

“Go curl up with Jeremy on the sofa, love.” Geoff suggests, taking the decision to sweep Michael straight off of his feet and carry him into the living room.

Jeremy is laying on their comfiest couch, splayed out in undignified manner as he plays an early morning game of DOOM on their console. Geoff ignore Michael’s protests and Jeremy’s yell of surprise as he drops Michael onto the smallest lad’s chest.

Michael grumbles for just a moment before he finds a comfy position that still allows Jeremy to breathe fully.

Geoff just smiles and heads back to the kitchen.

“Ryan! Hurry up!” Geoff yells in the direction of the bathroom, tapping his foot impatiently on the tiled floor of their kitchen.

“I’m coming. I’m coming.” Ryan declares as he heads out of the bathroom in full face paint, clutching his mask in his hand.“You look beautiful.” Geoff teases, pecking his boyfriend’s cheek lightly, so as not to smudge his hard work.

Ryan simply rolls his eyes, ushering Geoff out of the door and yelling his quick goodbyes to the lads as they both file into a car. Geoff takes the decision to drive, unsure if he really wants an adrenaline-fuelled, murder happy, Vagabond driving them back home.

The job today is detailed as simple. Yesterday the B-Team had managed to capture a member of the police force that had a record of acting dirty. The Fakes thought they might just be a very useful source of information.

It was up to Ryan to get that information and up to Geoff to make sure he didn’t kill their hostage in the meantime.

The cop had been tied up in a local warehouse with members of the B-Team taking it in turns to guard them. It was a quiet area of the town with little to no passers-by which made it very useful for storing hostages without being noticed.

When Geoff pulls up, however, he notices something is wrong instantly. The door to the warehouse is ajar when it should be locked. He frowns slightly and exits the car quickly.

“Who was supposed to be on guard?” Geoff asks over his shoulder as he breaks out into a jog and heads for the door. Ryan is close behind.

“Mica.” He responds instantly, pulling on his mask as his eyes pass worrisome looks to his boss.

Geoff hauls the heavy warehouse door open further and the first thing he sees is their hostage on the ground. Making is way over he kicks the cop on his back and is met with a hole in the man’s forehead.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Geoff screeches, kicking at the corpse again with more force this time. Ryan’s close behind him though he’s not looking at the body.

“Geoff… if this guy’s dead. Where’s Mica?” He questions anxiously and Geoff immediately looks up.

“Find her.” He orders, pointing at Ryan to take the left hand side of the building while he makes his way to the right. There's no way to know that Mica is even still in the building but Geoff won't give up looking quickly.

It takes far longer than Geoff would have liked before either one of them find what they’re looking for. He holds his breath as he peers around every corner, pulls away every box and checks every level. Each time Mica’s not lying there in the dirt it’s both terrifying and a relief.

After five minutes of complete silence he finally hears the yell he hopes for.

“Over here!”

Geoff sprints the length of the warehouse to find Ryan kneeling beside Mica’s form on the ground. In the dim light he can see blood trickling down her forehead but it’s not a bullet wound. It looks like a blunt force head wound at first glance.

Ryan’s got his fingers pressed to her neck and his ear to her mouth as Geoff approaches quietly.

“She’s still alive and breathing.” Ryan declares and Geoff sighs out in relief.

“Oh thank fucking god…” He breathes, crouching down beside Ryan and laying a hand on Mica’s arm. He takes a moment to look at her and let the anxiety leave his body, his forehead falling to rest on Ryan’s shoulder.

Geoff is dating the Fake AH Crew. In fact the Fake AH Crew are all dating each other. If anything were to happen to Gavin or Jack or Michael or any of them, then Geoff would be inconsolable. He loves his boys with his entire heart and even though the B-team weren’t necessarily his lovers; they were still his family.

He would still fuck their attackers up.

“Alright, I don’t care what happened here. Let’s just get her back to the pent house.” Geoff says with a shake of his head as Ryan scoops the small woman into his arms. Ryan’s so large in comparison to Mica and it’s practically breaking his heart to watch her lifeless in his hold. Geoff is already making new rules in his head.

Nobody will ever be doing a job alone again.

As the two trudge out of them warehouse Geoff stares at the ground for a long time. His brain is whirring, attempting to figure out who is responsible for this. With a cop as a hostage it wouldn’t be too hard to assume that the LSPD broke in but with their hostage dead and Mica still here instead of arrested he can quickly rule it out.

The Fake AH Crew is hated by many in Los Santos but by the same notion they’re feared. To hurt a member of the crew is a risky move with Geoff around. It doesn’t seem to him that the people responsible for killing the crew's hostage and hurting a member of their team are entirely aware of what they’ve done.

No one fucks with Fake AH Crew. That’s unwritten law in this city.

Geoff keeps walking, not noticing when Ryan stops by the door with a confused look on his face.

“Geoff?” Ryan asks slowly, bringing his boss back down to earth. His head snaps up with a small grunt. “Look at this.”

“What is it?” Geoff asks as he walks back to the door. Ryan’s staring at the metal inside quite intently and Geoff doesn’t understand why until he rounds the corner.

Sprayed onto the door is a neon yellow tag. A messily painted letter M that’s running down the door. Beneath the crude penmanship is a much neater sprayed set of initials.

S.H

“They actually tagged their job.” Geoff remarks in a whisper as he pulls out his phone to take a picture. “Either they’re idiots… or they’re brave.”

“The line is blurred half the time anyway.” Ryan says with a chuckle as he shifts Mica in his arms while Geoff snaps a photo for Gavin to run an analysis on later. 

 

* * *

 

Geoff doesn’t expect to come home to chaos. He doesn’t expect to find Gavin trying to take five calls at once and Michael trying to video chat with who he’s assuming is Jon Risinger at the same time as Gus Sorala in a panicked fashion.

“What the hell’s going on?!” Geoff yells and Gavin drops his mobile onto the kitchen counter in shock. Jeremy and Ray are running around the place like their pants are on fire for reasons Geoff can’t quite figure out.

“It’s going to shit, Geoff.” Gavin cries out and Geoff’s eyebrows raise in confusion. He hasn’t seen the penthouse this frantic since Jeremy’s welcome party became a mass murder.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Ryan asks as he lowers the still unconscious Mica onto the sofa.

“What happened to her?” Jeremy questions quickly as he heads over to her side.

“Someone knocked her out and killed our hostage.” Ryan explains.

“Not important!” Geoff yells and Jeremy turns indignantly.

“She’s not important?” He challenges with clenched fists, and Geoff rubs a hand down his face in frustration.

“Not what I meant.” Geoff groans loudly as the Gavin’s phone starts ringing again and a string of curse words fall from Michael’s lips.

Gavin’s red in the face, his eyes wide and his brain in multiple places at once, while Michael’s taken to pacing around the living room as he talks.

Geoff’s helpless as he watches the chaos continue. Ray disappears to grab a first aid kit for Ryan to patch up Mica. He’s mentally debating who to approach first as Gavin hangs up the phone before rushing up to his boss.

“Geoff, I don’t know what’s happening but there’s a crew out there trying to screw us over. I’ve had calls from Fakehaus, the Free Fakes and FakePatch too. Michael’s been getting video calls from the heads at the CockBite Empire all morning and now Jon too.” Gavin rambles and Geoff can barely keep up with all the information.

“Alright, alright… Gavin calm down.” Geoff says, taking both of the British lad’s hands into his own and squeezing them gently. “Breathe and take it slow, okay? What have they been saying?”

Gavin nods a little and, though his exterior may be calming with Geoff’s words, it’s all a façade. Inside his head is still spinning and he’s trying to remember everything he’s been told in the past few hours.

“FakeHaus had one of their heists hijacked this morning. The Free Fakes had their safes raided last night but they only found out about twenty minutes ago. Ashley from FakePatch was attacked on her way to a hostage interrogation.” Gavin says slower than before.

Geoff’s eyes widen a little.

 

“I’ve been talking with Burnie and Gus all morning. The CockBite Empire aren't the only crews they’ve been attacking. I don’t think they’re aiming for us on purpose. We just happen to own a lot of the city.” Michael adds in, closing the laptop lid and cutting off his conversation with those on the other side. “And now Jon’s telling me he’s had trouble too.”

Jon Risinger is the head of his own small business. He handles mercenaries and gives them their jobs. Occasionally the CockBite Empire does business with the man when they need a fresh face to take on a heist.

“What’s Jon’s problem?” Ryan asks. Out of everyone in the crew Ryan has had the most contact with Jon. He’d been on the man’s books a few years back before he’d settled with the Fakes.

“A crew’s been attacking his mercenaries just after they finish their jobs and then running off with the loot. Kerry’s incapacitated. Miles tried to go find him but he got taken down too. I’ve sent Caleb over to offer his medical service.” Michael says. “Lindsay’s gone to check on Ashley on Burnie’s request.”

“Right… right, that’s a lot of information to wrap my head around.” Geoff sighs as he heads for the kitchen. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s searching for and soon his hand is wrapped around the neck of a bottle as he takes a large swig. “Gavin, was it you that said there’s a crew fucking it all up? How do we know it’s just one?” He asks.

“At all the jobs, they left a tag.” Ray says, speaking up for the first time since everyone arrived. “Michael, show him the picture Gus sent you.”

 Michael nods and pulls out his phone. After a couple of seconds of scrolling he drops his laptop onto the couch and walks over to Geoff, brandishing his phone screen. It doesn’t take Geoff more than two seconds to recognise the tag.

Neon yellow. A crudely drawback  M. The same neat initials.

“That’s the same tag as whichever crew knocked out Mica.” Geoff says quietly, indicating for Michael to show Ryan who was still patching up injuries.

The group falls silent for a few minutes. Ryan and Ray fussing over the unconscious Mica, Gavin furiously texting on his phone while Michael stares at the picture, and Geoff taking more swigs from the bottle.

After a moment Jeremy clears his throat.

“You know… we’ve seen those initials before.” He pipes up and Geoff looks to the smallest lad.

“Yeah?”

Jeremy nods lightly.

“Sebastian Hordan. SH. Leader of the Maniacs.” Jeremy states. The realisation is almost tangible in the air as it washes over the room. “New group in town, right? Probably just trying to make their way by getting in on the easy heists. I bet they barely know who any of the crews in this city are. It’s not brilliant manners to steal a job or fuck up another crews belongings, but then again, they are criminals. We’re not exactly known for customer service.” He points out.

“I think Lil’ J might be onto something there.” Gavin says as he looks up from his phone. “Oh, and Jack just texted. Him and Joel are on their way home.”

“Brilliant welcome home for Jack…” Geoff sighs as he lets his head fall onto the kitchen counter. Nobody moves, unsure of how to actually console their boyfriend at this point before he pokes his head back up. “The moment he gets in we’re holding a meeting. Michael, get Burnie back on. We’ll patch him in.”

 

* * *

 

 

 Four hours later the entire Fake AH Crew is sitting around the board table in their meeting room. Mica, now awake, is perched between Jeremy and Ryan, and beside Geoff is a thoroughly confused looking Jack.

The crew has filled him in the best they can and Gavin rambled relentlessly about the woes of the other crews that he’s had to hear all morning. Michael has managed to set up a call with Burnie who now heads the table on a large projector screen.

“Alright.” Burnie sighs softly. “What do we know?” He asks.

“There’s a crew that’s new to Los Santos. They’re called the Maniacs. They’re headed by Sebastian Hordan.” Ray lists off. “They’ve been hijacking heists like ours last week and taking the rewards.” He explains. “They’ve also been getting to hostages that we’ve captured, getting the information first and then killing them. Lately, and by that I mean this morning, they’ve started attacking actual members of other crews. While the intent is not to actually kill them. They are trying to hurt and incapacitate.”

“How fucking polite of them not to murder me.” Mica grumbles a little as she touches the bloody bandage that’s wrapped around her head. Ryan gently pats her knee under the table with a sympathetic smile.

Geoff nods along as Ray continues to talk. With the information laid out in front of them in a clear and concise manner it’s a lot easier to process than the mangled panicking’s of the stressed out lads this morning.

“Okay.” Burnie nods as he glances off screen. A small grunt indicates that Gus is sitting beside him and Geoff would probably put money on it that Matt and Joel are there too.

“When did it start?” Jack asks the group.

“A couple of days after you left. That’s when the lads tried to rob the bank. That’s the first we’ve heard of the group.” Ryan says plainly.

Geoff is still nursing his whiskey but at least Jack had managed to convince him to use a glass instead of a bottle for the meeting

“I go away for a minute and the city falls apart without me.” Jack teases, nudging Geoff’s shoulder who groans in distaste. “Oh come on, love, it was funny.” He chuckles but Geoff shakes his head

“My criminal career crumbling is funny to you?” Geoff wails and Jack reaches over to remove the glass of whiskey.

“No more alcohol for you. You’re getting overdramatic.” He declares with a harsh tut.

“What exactly do you suggest we do to combat them?” Burnie asks loudly to bring the conversation back around to its intended purpose.

“Well, I’d say we send someone in undercover to see what their game plan is. Except they’ve seen us all now, haven’t they? Definitely us lads, who knows if someone was spying on Geoff and Ryan? They’ve been messing with FakeHaus. The Free Fakes. FakePatch. Even Jon’s mercenaries. Unless we want to contact crews out of our own Empire then we can’t do this. And even half the crews in Los Santos have had run ins over the past few weeks now.” Gavin says with a frown as he leans back in his leather chair with a shrug. Most of the table grunts in agreement.

“They haven’t seen everyone.” Jack says softly, sitting forward in his chair.

“What are you getting at, Jack?” Ryan asks carefully.

“Well, I’ve been out of town while all this was happening. They haven’t seen me.” He points out as mouths open to protest. “Before you all decide it’s a bad idea; hear me out.”

There’s a rousing tone of defeat that rounds the table and eventually Geoff waves Jack on to speak.

“I know I haven’t been here so I may have some of the facts wrong but it seems to me they haven’t done research on actual crews. There’s no particular pattern on who they hit. It’s probably whoever they catch wind of first and I’m willing to bet that if they’re attacking this particular crew and others attached to the CockBite Empire then these Maniacs definitely haven’t done their research. We’re well known around here, aren’t we? It’s a general rule of thumb not to take us on unless you’re willing to get fucked up.”

“What’s your point?” Michael asks.

“If they haven’t done their research on the crews they’re messing with. They probably don’t know I exist.” Jack smiles.

“You’re willing to act on a probably, Jack?” Gavin says with a frown, shaking his head in disapproval, 

“Come on, man. They could kill you if you’re wrong!”

“But if I’m not then it changes everything! Imagine the information I could get. I can find out where they came from. Why they came here. What the fuck their working style is.” Jack exclaims, slamming his hand down onto the table.

“I think we know their style. It’s just plain fucking rude.” Mica points out sourly.

“Jack, are you sure…” Jeremy asks nervously but all he receives is a confident nod.

“Burnie, what do you think?”

“I think you better pack your bags, Jack, and we’ll discuss further details of your placement tomorrow morning.”

The larger gent grins while the others look on in horror. It’s not that they don’t trust Jack to do a good job. In fact, they know that he will. However the small possibility that this could go to shit terrifies them all.

“Be careful…” Gavin murmurs gently but it reaches nobodies ears but his own. Around the table the others are thinking the same things, fingers tapping nervously on the glass table, toes bouncing on the ground.

Jack just looks ecstatic. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, guys!
> 
> As always this was BETA'd by neocosplaycat who actually BETA'd this for me on less than half a days notice while on holiday. She is honestly the best.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr for updates and to send me prompts at @creeper-gavin-fic.
> 
> Response to my writing is always welcome and adored <3 Can't wait to give you guys the next chapter!


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